I’m going to be honest with you: I stopped feeling inspired in the kitchen sometime last trimester. I’m still into eating, eating is great, but I just don’t want to be the one making the food. It takes so much mental energy to think of what to make. A few weeks ago, on a Thursday night when we had friends coming into town for the weekend, I realized with panic, sometime around 6 or 7 p.m., that we hadn’t planned ahead for dinner and now we had to think of something fast, and then our friends arrived, and I was starving, so we pulled out the Vitamix and blended up oranges right there with them in the kitchen, when they’d just come from dinner out. So tacky but so necessary. I’ve been theorizing about what’s going on, about how a person who normally loves spending free time in the kitchen become a person who wants all the food all the places as long as she doesn’t have to make them, and all I can say is who knows. Maybe Baby’s taking my brain power. Maybe all my creative energy is going towards nursery decorations and labor preparation plans and figuring out what to drape on top of this growing bump. Maybe I’m changing, the way every veteran mom is always telling me I’m going to. Or maybe it’s just a season and, like all seasons, is just a temporary thing that will one day pass. Tonight, while Tim made our dinner, bless him, a feast of (baked) fried chicken alongside our favorite green beans, I had the small victory of whipping up the fastest, easiest chocolate cake I know of, and I even did it in the Vitamix because that’s how lazy looks, and then, while it baked its quick half hour in the oven, I tried Kris’s recipe for date-sweetened frosting telling myself some random Pinterest fact I’d read about dates. Tim’s had another version of date frosting that involves coconut cream to cover the caramely date flavor a little more, so sometime we’ll try that too, but tonight I ate a big slice of this simple cake and this gooey frosting after dinner alongside my husband and my brother-in-law while the baby kicked, and it was nice.

PS! Send me all your easy recipes! And, should a miracle put me into nesting mode the next few weeks, I welcome all freezer recipes, too. It’d be nice to prep a bunch of meals ahead of time, theoretically, so tell me what you’ve got!

Directions:for the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350F degrees and grease an 8″ x 8″ pan. To mix the batter, you can use a mixer and a bowl or you can go laaaaazy and pull out your high-powered blender or food processor and dump all the ingredients inside. I first dumped in the dry ingredients, pulsed just enough to stir them together, then added the wet, using the Vitamix tamper to make sure everything came together. Then I poured the mixture in the prepared pan. The entire process took less than 10 minutes, including pulling out ingredients, and nonetheless I felt like a champ. Bake cake for 30 minutes or until a knife or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool slightly before frosting.

for the frosting:
While the cake is cooking, get out a high-powered blender or food processor and add the dates and boiling water. Let them sit for 10 to 15 minutes; then blend until super smooth. If you’re doing this in a Vitamix, use the tamper to make sure everything gets smooshed around.

Add the remaining ingredients and blend again until smooth. Once the cake has cooled, top with this frosting and enjoy! Leftovers should be kept in the fridge.

Even as Tim and I made these (baked) fried chicken salads last Saturday, it was with an awareness that we are remarkably privileged to be able to go to the store, pick out what we want to bring home and then, together, cook it to have something good to eat. Not everybody knows these luxuries. With that in mind, we’re glad to write this post as ambassadors for Walmart’s current Fight Hunger program, one step towards eradicating the real issues of hunger today, with the help of consumers and six key vendors, working towards an overall goal of providing 75 million meals to Feeding America Food Banks nationwide (and they’re close!). Below, in this sponsored post, we are sharing some information about Walmart’s current program along with a recipe for the killer chicken we made last weekend, set on top of salads that, in honor of the work Walmart is doing now, feature ingredients found at our local retail location.

In our protected pocket of middle-class America, it’s hard to believe that one in six Americans (!) is struggling with hunger. But unfortunately, according to the USDA, that is exactly the case. What’s even harder to believe is that we can do anything to help when we’re just small people with small budgets ourselves. Because of this, most cities have food banks and other charities set up that try to provide meals to people who need them—here in Nashville, we have Second Harvest, for example—but, even still, the needs are big. One way that Walmart is responding is that, now through May 3, it’s giving consumers a way to make a difference every time they shop: every time someone purchases a participating product at one of its stores, the company gives the equivalent of one meal to Feeding America. If you don’t purchase participating products, you can participate in the initiative by giving $1, $2, $5 or other donations at the register when you check out. And if you’re on social media, tag a photo with #WeSparkChange and Walmart will donate a meal each time, up to $1,500,000, to Feeding America.

Sometimes when we’re at our local Walmart picking up distilled water or paper products, we might grab some of the cheap and ripe avocados as we go. Recently, we decided to see what else we might find and walked away with organic spring mix and mangos alongside our $0.98 avocado finds. At home, we chopped the ripe mangos and avocados, tossed them with finely chopped spring mix and a dressing of olive oil, balsamic and lemon juice, salting everything to taste. It was the perfect sweet and creamy mixture to have our breaded chicken pieces on—the same breaded chicken pieces Tim made me a few weeks ago when I was craving fried chicken, ah!, they’re so good!—the night before we celebrated his birthday last week. It’s also a testament to simple pleasures and simple choices that can make a big difference, whether in the simple course of a day or in another person’s life.

One quick note: We almost always end up with extra flour mixture when we bread something like chicken, so if you want to avoid this, you could lower the flour in the proportions below. I’m just leaving it the way we did it though.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F degrees and grease a rimmed baking sheet (we added maybe 2 tablespoons coconut oil and stuck the pan in the oven for a few minutes while we assembled stations, to melt oil).

Next, create a chicken assembly station, with four main stations:

1. Chicken: Cut chicken into strips, aiming for similar thickness and size among all of them, and place them on a plate.
2. Eggs: Crack two eggs into a wide bowl, and add ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper, whisking together.
3. Flour: Place flour and spices under “flour mixture” on a third plate or wide bowl, stirring together.
4. Breadcrumbs: Place one cup toasted breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoon all-purpose seasoning and 1/2 teaspoon salt on a fourth plate or wide bowl, stirring everything together.

Begin dredging process. Working with one or a few pieces of chicken at a time, coat each one in flour, dip in eggs and dredge in breadcrumbs, making sure each piece is really thoroughly coated in the breadcrumb mixture. Place chicken pieces on prepared oiled baking sheet (remove from oven if you haven’t already).

Once all the chicken is coated and placed on baking sheet, drizzle the top of all the pieces with olive oil.

Place baking sheet in oven and cook for 30 minutes, using kitchen tongs to turn all the chicken about halfway through.

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, tossing well. Taste and adjust salt as you like. Serve beneath baked fried chicken from above recipe!

disclaimer: As a participant in this campaign with Walmart, I have received compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post. As always, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own. also note that Walmart is not responsible for donating the meals, but rather the supplier partners listed above are responsible for that. As part of this initiative, *the monetary equivalent of meals will be donated. $0.10 is equivalent to one meal secured by Feeding America on behalf of local member food banks. See Walmart.com/FightHunger for details. #wesparkchange #shop2give #ad

Blogging gives lots of gifts, but the opportunities to connect with souls you may have never met otherwise has got to be my favorite–and a perfect example of that would be the very lovely Erin Alderson from Naturally Ella. I can’t talk about Erin without gushing because she is at once an incredibly talented recipe developer/photographer and a genuinely kind and thoughtful person that Tim and I are blessed to have sat down with in offline life. Like me, she’s originally from Illinois but now lives somewhere totally different (in her case, California!) because of love. She is also, insert squeal here, 36 weeks pregnant right now (!!), soon to deliver her first child, a boy, and so today a bunch of bloggers are celebrating her in a virtual baby shower filled with easy vegetarian meals (all the shower/recipe links are at the bottom, just before the recipe break). For our contribution, we’re bringing these burgers, which are Erin’s original recipe, taken from her recently released new book.

I made the easy choice of making one of Erin’s own recipes for this post because, as you may remember, Erin’s first book, The Homemade Flour Cookbook, is the one I raved about here last year, and her new book, The Easy Vegetarian Kitchen is another that gets me into all kinds of superlatives—I just can’t think of a resource anywhere that I trust as quickly as Erin when it comes to vegetarian recipe ideas because everything she makes looks gorgeous, feels approachable and 100% of the time turns out to be a great dish when we make it. The new book from which these burgers come is such a brilliant concept—recipe formulas for kitchen staples like omelets and panzanellas and flatbreads and risotto, each spun four different ways to show how creativity in the kitchen can work. The fact that it’s all vegetarian is even more impressive because it’s like someone has finally offered the perfect answer to “What else can we do with fruit and vegetables?” but, in keeping with Erin’s style, in a super approachable way for the home cook.

Erin, We’re so excited for you to become a mama and get to bless a new little human with your skilled, hard-working, consistently humble approach to everything you do! This baby is rich already, and we say that, so seriously, because he’s got you. I can’t wait to watch you love him and learn from him and pass on anything and everything you know (we’re a month behind you, so give us all the tips, haha!). Genuinely jumping up and down with joy and so much hope for you and M and for this little miracle. xx and let’s plan a cross-country play date sometime soon!

Visit these other sites to join in on the fun of Erin’s online baby shower (and see some great recipes, too)!

Erin says in her book headnote that she’s kind of picky about veggie burgers, which is something anyone who’s had a bad version of a veggie burger will understand. They’re often flavorless or have weird textures or, super common ailment, easily fall apart. So to remedy this, here, she uses a chickpea-based recipe that comes together quickly in a food processor, then forms that mixture into patties and bakes the mounds before grilling or, in our case, sautéing to brown. The preliminary bake time firms up the burgers and makes them much more stable and able to hold their shape, and the sautéing or grilling gives a great crisp exterior into which you can bite. We ate ours with lettuce and ketchup and dijon!

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a food processor, pulse the onion into small pieces. Add the rest of the ingredients, chickpeas through salt, waiting on the spinach for a bit. Blend until well combined, with the egg and flour evenly dispersed throughout. Then, add the spinach, pulse again and stop when everything is just combined.

Remove the blade from the food processor and, with wet hands, form four equal patties and set them on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes and then either grill for 2 to 3 minutes on each side or, what we did, sauté on the stove in a little coconut oil until browned on each side.

Serve on buns, with your choice of condiments (we did lettuce, ketchup and dijon mustard). Enjoy!

In the time since we last spoke, Tim and I have gone to our first baby shower together (and it was thrown for us) (!!), hosted our first overnight house guests in our halfway-renovated home, spent time with my side of the family and Tim’s side of the family and been showered with unbelievable future-grandparents-uncles-aunts generosity from both, spent a weekend in Asheville being fed homemade croissants and trying to explain einkorn to total strangers at a giant fair, paid our taxes (ooooouch) and gotten pretty addicted to a new kitchen gadget we’re excited to share here today. In this post, I used it to bake a version of my grandma’s oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and at the end of the post, the folks who make it are going to give one away to one of you. So let’s talk a little about these cookies and about this gadget, the OmniMount iPad Combo Kit.

First the gadget: so what we essentially have here is a much easier way to look up recipes and research information while you’re in the kitchen, from a mounted stand that can hang beneath a cabinet, be folded up when you’re not using it and keep information out and accessible while you’re mixing ingredients for dinner or dessert. This combo kit includes a stand, a case and a wall mount with a magnetic mount for your iPad, and, from the first day we installed it, I’ve been using it all the time. So convenient! So much better for keeping food off the iPad! Learn more about it at OmniMount’s site.

Second thing: the cookies. If you’ve been around here since the beginning, you’ll recognize these as my grandma’s original recipe, which have been one of my favorites since I was small. The entire mixture is stirred together in a bowl, by hand, with a big wooden spoon, and the ingredients list is fairly simple, even with fancier, nutrient-rich ingredients like coconut sugar and coconut oil mixed in. Rather than my grandma’s margarine, I combine butter and oil; rather than half white sugar and half brown sugar, I use all coconut sugar; and rather than 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips, I hand-chop a 70% dark bar and throw it inside. Just like in childhood, they’re still one of my all-time favorites—I think I ate five straight out of the oven—as they’re both sweet and filling, crisp and soft.

So now for the giveaway! Win your own OmniMount case–for either iPad generation 2, 3 or 4; mini; or Air—and adjustable stand by using the Rafflecopter here. US entries only. Giveaway runs until Thursday, April 30, 2015.

Grandma’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from the recipe in this 2008 old post, where it was adapted from my grandma // also, there’s a similar recipe in our book
Makes about two dozen (or a little more) cookies

This cookie recipe is incredibly changeable if you alter one of three things: the temperature of the fats (butter, coconut oil), the amount of flour (here we’re using just a cup of einkorn to make a crisp, thin cookie) and the way you chop the chocolate (big chunks = more reminiscent of traditional cookie; tiny pieces = more chocolatey flavor mixed into dough). Feel free to play around, but the one thing you need to know is that for this version your butter and coconut oil must be soft enough to smoosh with a spoon (another option would be to use cold butter and oil but combine everything in the food processor where it will be appropriately dispersed). No matter what, you do not want big chunks of fat in the batter when you’re scooping it, because when they melt in the oven, you’ll get little pools of liquid and that will make the cookies weird. Hope that makes sense. Comment with questions!

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, use a big wooden spoon and some strong stirring to combine all the ingredients except the oatmeal and the chocolate chips. (See headnote about butter and coconut oil.) After well-mixed, with all the fats evenly smooshed and distributed especially, stir in the oatmeal and see a bowl of cookie dough that takes me right back to my grandma’s kitchen. Add the chopped chocolate last and stir everything together well.

Drop by rounded tablespoon (I like to use this) onto prepared baking sheets. Baked for 12 to 15 minutes, until firm and a little browned around the edges. Repeat with remaining dough. Enjoy!

disclaimer: we were sent a combo kit from OmniMount to include in this post, and OmniMount is generously giving away one identical kit to the winner of this giveaway. we were not paid in any other way and all opinions expressed are our own.

I can’t believe we’re actually here, I’m actually writing this post, your belly is swelling bigger with every Instagram photo and every day ticks us one closer to the day little he or she arrives. I can’t believe it because I’m so I’m terrible at hoping, so eager to protect myself, so always shocked by every sweetness, every joy, every pure delight God gives us. I have felt guilt about this before, about my weak faith and great fear, and I have looked ahead to parenthood counting all the ways I’ll mess up because of it and because of other things I wish I didn’t do. I won’t believe enough. I won’t say the right thing. I’ll hurt my kid in a way that he never forgets and I’ll regret it and it will be horrible. But then this thought comes to me that I hope comes to you: I will never be a perfect parent; you will never be a perfect parent; there is only One Perfect Parent and He not only parents us, but He’ll parent our little ones, too. We don’t have to get it all right because we can trust Him to, like we trust Him for everything else, like we’re sometimes only able to want to trust Him with everything else. I love thinking about Baby Hofmeyer coming into your sweet arms and that sweet nursery you’ve prepared and the sweet family that’s been praying for that beating heart to keep growing and those little arms and legs to keep moving and the miracle we have all watched and waited for to come introduce himself or herself to the world. I love thinking about what an obvious, shocking, humbling, awesome gift of grace your baby is already and about all the millions of ways he or she will continue to be, and I love thinking about what a lifetime of hanging onto the One who created life will look like, even now as you walk day by day into this new season that He brings. Thank you for letting us Internet friends rejoice as you rejoice and opening up with your hurts and helps and hard things online. You have encouraged me and helped me. You have loved me with your transparency and with the way you love Him. Today, I am wildly happy and expectant and, praise Him, even hopeful (!!) about the weeks that are coming for you. And I am praying with and for you that grace upon grace fits and fills every bit.

Much love to you my friend!
Shanna

This post is part of a virtual baby shower being thrown for sweet Madison of Espresso and Cream by Heather’s Dish and Keep It Sweet Desserts. Baby Hofmeyer, who, eight(ish) months ago looked to be lost, made a miracle recovery and is due any day. What a treasure! What a joy! It is my absolute pleasure to celebrate him or her here.

The magic of this coffee cake is the texture: soft and light, with air pockets and a killer crumb. We’ve used the batter in cake pans and muffin pans and here, in long, skinny loaf pans, so bake it in anything you like. Between the texture of the cake and the sweet crumbles of the streusel, don’t be surprised when you’re eating slice after slice.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375F degrees. Butter and flour an 8″ X 8″ square pan (or two loaf pans or any combination of similarly sized baking dishes) and set it (or them) aside.

In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup coconut sugar with 1/4 cup coconut oil. Add the egg and blend. Add the water and kefir, and blend.

In a separate bowl, mix einkorn flour, ginger, baking powder, and salt. Add this dry mixture to the large bowl of wet ingredients, and mix until well combined. Fold in the chopped pears. Spread the blueberry batter into the prepared pan, and spread evenly.

In a small bowl, combine the topping ingredients (coconut sugar, einkorn flour, cinnamon, ginger and cubed butter). Sprinkle these toppings all over the pan of blueberry batter.

Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake mixture comes out clean.

You dislike gimmicks. Gimmicks are not your thing. The first Valentine’s Day we spent together, we argued about this, because while most of the world knows that February 14 is just another day, to the woman you ended up marrying, it could potentially be an indicator of whether or not the two of us were in love. So here you are, four years later, having spent your past several Valentine’s Days doing things like surprising me with chocolate-covered strawberries and helping me sew felt hearts on our outfits and baking heart-shaped pizzas late at night. Last year, you cooked me a homemade dinner of coq au riesling you found on my Pinterest board, alongside salads topped with heart-shaped beets and our first-ever einkorn cream puffs. You are good to me. Tonight, at a time when finances feel tight and my pregnant personality makes me break down crying when I am either happy or sad, you told me you cashed some random savings bonds to take me on a road trip, yet another thing I don’t deserve. What is it about marriage that makes it easy to take one another for granted? Why do I forget what a gift it is that you are laying there next to me night after night? Today I want you to know that being yours makes me feel rich, no matter what comes next, and I love you, Tim. Happy Valentine’s.

Valentine’s Heart Cakes with Homemade Chocolate Shell
Step one for these heart cakes is to bake a layer of your favorite white or yellow cake (our einkorn version is below). Step two is cut out hearts. Step three is mix together a homemade chocolate shell on the stove that you can drizzle and spread on top. A little chill in the fridge so the chocolate can harden, and there you go: you’ve got a super fun, albeit super gimmicky cake that is right up my Valentine’s alley—and, thankfully, right up my willing-to-celebrate-Valentine’s-with-me Valentine’s alley, as evidenced by the fact that he baked and topped them with me a few days ago.

Place coconut sugar in Vitamix or food processor and process on high until very powdery (this is basically to make your own fine sugar). Let coconut sugar settle in the mixer for a minute and then add it to a large bowl. Add softened butter and olive oil to bowl of sugar and use a hand mixer or stand mixer to blend until nice and creamed. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add and mix in vanilla.

Place remaining ingredients in two separate bowls. The first bowl is for dry ingredients (einkorn flour, baking powder, salt), and the second is for liquids (milk, yogurt, water). Mix each combination well.

Add the dry and liquid mixes to the sugar-butter bowl alternately, mixing well after each addition. Once everything is well combined, pour batter into prepared cake pan. Bake 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove to a cooling rack and cut out hearts with a cookie cutter.

STEP THREE: Homemade Chocolate Shell
This is our go-to chocolate, as perfect for pouring on top of ice cream (where it hardens right away) as it is on these little heart cakes. The below proportions are what we like, but you can feel free to adjust the sweetener, etc., as you like.

Directions:
In a small skillet over medium-low heat, stir together ingredients until fully softened throughout. Use a spoon to drizzle the mixture on the heart-shaped chocolate cakes, spreading it slightly as you do. Place cakes in the refrigerator until chocolate hardens, about 20 to 30 minutes, although longer is also fine.

I know today is the first of the year and the time for resolutions and healthy recipe searches, but while we were in Ohio last week, Tim got talking about some chocolate chip cookies his mom used to make, crisp around the edges and soft on the inside. It turned out his sister, Gina, had his mom’s original recipe book on hand, one of those spiral-bound church club versions where Myrtle shares her meatloaf and Veera provides her famous recipe for banana cream pie. That’s how I found out the cookies from Tim’s memories came from the kitchen of one Marcia Maki and were marked with a handwritten “very good” in his mom’s red pen. I love when people write in their cookbooks, almost as much as I love the way that food lets us remember people who cooked for us once they’re gone. It’s a way of making a cookbook more personal, more your own. It’s also a great reference for posterity 20 or 30 years down the line, when they want to know if Mom liked the cherry pie and see a big “NO” written on top.

In keeping with our eating habits, we’ve swapped in some einkorn flour, coconut sugar and coconut oil in our version here, so if you’re in the mood to move your baking towards the nutrient-dense in 2015, here you go. I’m not big on resolutions—all I wanted was to be on my knees this past year, which is exactly what God gave me—but in 2015 especially I am yearning to open my hands without expectation. Tim and I are facing some big career questions and life changes in the coming months, not the least of which is the very big change at the end of June, and it is in this season of uncertainty I am comforted with the fact that I am not the one calling the shots. Like my blog friend Natalie So said today in her New Year’s newsletter, “No matter how daunting & unknown, the wilderness is rich in beauty & hidden glories; don’t dismiss the possibility of miracles.”

Einkorn Chocolate Chip CookiesMakes about 2 dozen

Changing ingredients often means changing textures and tastes, and that’s definitely the case with these cookies, which Tim says reminded him of his mom’s but are yet another thing entirely. We played around with the bake times to discover that letting them go too long moves the soft and gooey center towards a hard hockey puck, so definitely err on the side of undercooking if you can. Note that the cookies are also on the softer side, so while we kept ours in a tupperware container on the counter, they’d also be good candidates for chilling in the freezer if you’re of the mind to do that sort of thing.

In terms of results, they are not like any other chocolate chip cookie I’ve had—both cakey and not, both firm and soft—and notably, ridiculously easy to whip together, which is always something I love about a good cookie. We got talking in the kitchen about how many different ways there are to make a chocolate chip cookie—the large and firm, the thin and crisp, the oatmeal, the nutty, the ones that you have to whack with a spatula when they come fluffy from the oven. These are definitely a new version we’re adding to our collection, partly because they are classic and chocolately and partly because of the place from which they came. Happy New Year!

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, cream together butter, coconut oil and coconut sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix together. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; then add this mixture to the bigger bowl. Mix well and stir in the chocolate chips.

Scoop out tablespoon-sized scoops of cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 minutes, or until cooked through but not browned. With these cookies, it’s best to undercook rather than overcook. Repeat until all the dough is used up! Enjoy.

My friend Leslie runs a Chicago-based jewelry business called LittleGemsUSA, from which 50 percent of all proceeds go straight to charity. Today it is our pure honor to feature that business here, alongside a recipe for the homemade graham crackers I am obsessed with, and accompanied by a giveaway for the sweet little bracelet I’m wearing in the pictures. I love Leslie and I love what she’s doing, so it was my idea that she do an interview/giveaway (UPDATE: congratulations, Katrina!) here. When she sent me the answers to her questions, I cried, because, in case you’re wondering, she actually is as kind and humble as she sounds. After the Q/A and photos below, you’ll find more information about these graham crackers and more information about Leslie’s business, including how to win the bracelet and you can go purchase jewelry that will support women and children in need. This is one of those posts that I feel really proud of and thankful for, so please do scroll all the way to the end.

Q: Tell us the short 60-second version of what LittleGemsUSA does. What is it? Why should people know about it?

A: LittleGemsUSA is a jewelry company I started so that women can look stylish and also make a positive impact in the lives of women and children in need. 50% of profits are given to charities that help women and children. Currently we have fashion jewelry as well as gemstones set in sterling silver.

Q: What made you want to start this company?

A: A couple years ago I had my eyes opened to the fact that so many people around me are experiencing immense pain. Just meeting physical needs of food and housing for some people is almost impossible. I looked around and thought, “Why isn’t somebody doing something about this?” I wanted to see big corporations that have big money help fix the problems. I justified myself in thinking I can’t change the world. I’m only me. At some point though, I thought, “What if I helped just one person?” If I was the person praying in desperation, wouldn’t I want someone to at least try? If I fail, at least I fail while trying.

So I started LittleGemsUSA. Crazy as it sounds, I feel it is my worship, whatever happens or doesn’t happen is for God’s Glory. You’ll find these words on the bottom right of every page on my site – Soli Deo Gloria…to God Alone be the Glory.

Q: What has been the most exciting part of working with this business?

A: I don’t know if I would say it’s exciting to me as much as moving. I recall earlier this year when we raised money for women in Rwanda that don’t have work or a way to provide for their family. At the end of the campaign we were able to buy two sewing machines. Going to bed that night it was the first time I knew exactly what this meant for these women. I was moved to tears. For all the struggles to tag inventory and lug it to shows, untangling necklaces and recordkeeping, it was worth it to know that I have helped change the lives of two women. In effect I helped get them a job or a career. Earlier I said what if I just helped one person, but now I knew I had helped two. It was exciting, yes, but I’m prone to water works so, crying it out brought joy, if that makes sense. A childhood friend is in Rwanda (single, young woman) so her charity, Love Alive International, is near to my heart.

Through charities, we have helped victims of trafficking here in Chicago, helped keep girls off the streets in India, bought Christmas gifts for kids, bought two sewing machines for two women in Rwanda, supported a sports program in Chicago that keeps kids safe from gangs, raised funds for school supplies for underprivileged children and also funds to send six children to school in Rwanda. Now we are raising money for Angel Tree to purchase Christmas gifts for children whose parents are incarcerated. These are kids that most of us are not thinking about.

Q: What are some of your biggest challenges?

A: My biggest challenge is getting the word out about LittleGemsUSA.com. I am not the person that wants to ask favors of friends. I’m an independent single woman and I want to get it done myself. I want to be the one helping others, but the fact is that I can’t do this alone. You start a business and realize you have to know something about everything….impossible. I have to depend on my sisters (they help me constantly) and people I’ve met online to help spread the word. I work full-time so my lunch hours and evenings are spent trying to learn about marketing or websites. It’s like you’re drinking from a fire hose. But most of all I need help of people like me that think they are just “one person” [because] that one person has a voice. Follow us and share our posts and you’ll be putting your hand out and pulling a person up who is praying for that hand of help.

Q: How can we help?

A: Please join our email list [scroll to the bottom of the homepage for the signup form]. Other than [this giveaway at Food Loves Writing], the giveaways that I do are only for those who are on my list. Also, follow us on Instagram or Facebook. We put most of our content there.

Q: If someone wants to buy a Christmas gift through LG, what would he or she need to do? How does it work?

Go to our website and select the Store menu option. You’ll see categories on the side, or [you can] browse through everything. We accept credit cards, and orders over $50 receive free shipping. After you purchase, the order comes in to me. I get home from work, first make myself a cup of Shanna’s hot chocolate [haha!], then wrap the LittleGem and get it out to the post office the next day on my lunch hour. I collect the money throughout the campaign, subtract out expenses and then give half the profit to charity.

For more information about LittleGemsUSA, go straight to its website and shop now! Oh! And every commenter on this post will be automatically entered in the giveaway, which ends next Saturday, December 20. For a bonus entry, let us know you subscribed to the LittleGems newsletter!

One day last week I was mega craving homemade crackers and went on Instagram, where I found a pretty picture of molasses crackers that sent me straight to experiment. While I never found that user’s recipe, I did find scores of graham cracker recipes online that used molasses, and playing around with those formulas, using einkorn and spelt flours we had on hand, this is what resulted. They are crazy good. I mean, I-ate-a-batch-in-two-days good. Sweet and molasses-y and perfect for eating with a little chocolate on top. Another bonus: you mix everything in the food processor, roll out the dough, slice it and bake it, that’s it. The whole thing is not a long process, and that means faster crackers to enjoy!

A few quick notes:
— The thinner you roll the dough, the crisper crackers you’ll be able to achieve. I found that 1/16″ thickness was ideal, using a dough scraper (like this one!) to pull up the sliced cracker dough from the counter onto parchment. If you go thicker, the dough is easier to work with, but you’ll have more cookie-like crackers, also good, but different. Leave them uncovered for a few days and they’ll get a little firmer, however.

— The smaller you cut the dough, the faster the crackers will cook. We did little fluted rounds and some large and small rectangles. The smallest crackers baked up in 10 to 11 minutes, the largest in more like 13 to 15.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place einkorn and spelt flours, coconut sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a food processor; pulse to combine. Next, add the cubed butter, and pulse until distributed throughout (i.e., you don’t see huge butter chunks anymore). Last, add the liquids (molasses, honey, 1/4 cup milk and vanilla extract), whirring the food processor until everything is combined. If the dough won’t come together, you can add a little more milk; if you overdo it and the dough is too moist, you can just work in more flour in the next step.

Form into large mass of dough and plop onto floured counter. Split in half, setting unused half in plastic in fridge. Working with remaining dough, roll out to 1/16” thickness or as thin as you can get it. Cut out shapes with a knife or cookie cutters, and place them on your prepared baking sheets. Fork. Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until firm but not burned (watch carefully). Repeat process with second half of dough until all dough has been baked.

If your crackers were a little thick, they may be soft coming out of the oven, but they’ll firm up in a few days if you leave them uncovered on the counter.

Suggested serving ideas:
Dipped in tea
Eaten with squares of chocolate on top
Paired with homemade marshmallows (I want to try these with maple syrup and coconut sugar) and melted chocolate for homemade s’mores
Ground up for homemade graham cracker crusts in pies

*LittleGemsUSA provided the bracelet for the giveaway, but we were not compensated in any other way. All opinions express (other than interview question answers!) are our own.

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